Demon Minds
by Tsuki-Lolita
Summary: One girls adventures with the Spirit Detective and his friends. Tsukihara Miyuki fights demons and evil humans while balancing her job, school and girlfriend. It's a rough life!


_Did a little editing, hope this is better. You're in for a big surprise at the end so I hope my loyal and patient readers stick with me that far! Also, I've discovered a LJ "yyh_sues_finder" and I'm a little miffed that Miyuki is being called a Mary Sue. [*Spoiler Alert*] Miyuki has Schizophrenia, Rei doesn't actually exist, she drives the motorcycle illegally, and in later chapters she'll tell the guys (upon their request) just exactly how she can afford her lifestyle (I have to leave something for you to wonder about - can't give it all away!) I'm surprised the people on LJ can't ask me about it themselves though. It's not like I'm going to bitch them out or anything! Anyway, if you'd like to see what they're saying about Miyuki, check out the site here:_ yyh-sues-finder. livejournal. com/ 1317. html # comments

"Tsukihara Miyuki was a totally normal fifteen year old girl at Meioh Academy. Captain of both the fencing and archery teams, student council president, published author, and certified genius. Yep, totally normal. She holds a part time job at a very popular cosplay cafe at the Tokyo station too. Miyuki-sama leads a double life, by day: the honor student, by night: d-"

"Rei, you can stop narrating my life now."

Rei was sitting against the wall, peering bashfully over a book to watch her friend change out of her school uniform. "I wish I had your figure... and your height. Oh, it's not fair! Why do some girls get all the good genes while I'm stuck being this short, flat little imp!"

The layout of Miyuki and Rei's apartment was typical of the Japanese city. An elongated rectangle, to the left of the entrace is the kitchen, to the right, the bathroom. Ahead was the table and sitting cushions. Behind that, from the right wall, a twin-sized bed pulled out from the wall. The closet was opposite the bed, filled with storage bins for their clothes and their blankets and pillows were folded on the top shelf. The balcony's sliding glass doors were hidden by a thick dark green curtain to bring in contrast from the bright white walls, carpet and furniture.

"You aren't a little imp Rei. You're a very cute pixie." Miyuki, now standing in nothing but her undergarments and socks, sighed rummaged through her storage bins in the closet. She slipped on a pair of dark washed jeans and muttered to herself, then stood up straight, triumphantly holding up a black turtleneck shirt. Taking from her wrist a thin hair tie, she swiftly pulled her glossy, black hair into a high ponytail leaving her bangs (obviously because they're too short to be pulled back) and two, inch wide sections of hair down. Though most of her hair reached the lower part of her back, these two sections only came to her shoulders.

"Eh-hehe...Well, anyway. Miyuki-sama, where are we going?"

The girls left the tiny studio apartment and made their way towards the garage.

"To school."

"But it's Saturday! And the first weekend you've had off in nearly six months!"

"A sacrifice I'm willing to make. You said you felt demonic presences in the city earlier."

"Yeah, but the strongest is a D class at best. They're no match for you Miyuki-sama!"

"We're going to investigate."

"Do you suppose they have something to do with that mass of explosive spirit energy I felt yesterday?"

"I doubt it, that energy was human, but it's always possible. Which is why I'm starting at Sarayashiki Jr. High. That's where you first picked up that flux of energy."

"Hmm, guess you're right. So are you going to get involved...?"

"No."

"Not going to repeat your mistakes Miyuki-sama?" Rei smirked with a gentle, teasing laugh.

"Shut up." Miyuki scowled darkly.

"Oh, such a mean look Miyuki. Tsk tsk. You're going to get wrinkles!" In the garage stood a beautiful new machine - Miyuki's pride and joy, her most favored possession.

"I love your new motorcycle Miyuki-sama! It's so awesome!"

"Harley-Davidson Sportster XL 1200 Custom in our favorite color - electric emerald. Ah, I can't help but brag about it a little."

"You're so cool!"

Sliding her leg over the seat and the key into the ignition, Miyuki leaned over the engine and whispered lovingly, "Purr for me baby," with a wicked smile gracing her full caramell and honey-colored lips. They sped through the city, running stoplights and dodging traffic. Miyuki's dark, highlighted hair whipped backwards in the forceful wind as they raced along.

"Miyuki-sama! Can't we stop this thing? Your hair hurts my face!"

"Not right now Rei," the brilliant adrenaline-junkie called to her frightened passenger. An hour later, she finally pulled into a hospital-parking garage. "We can walk from here. You okay Rei?"

"Just fine Miyuki-sama."

Not far from the garage, a little boy's soul was just snatched away. Upon his collapse, a crowd of onlookers gathered around, each pondering the mysterious supposed illness striking these poor kids. Miyuki however, was busy watching the soul float away above the crowd. "See that?"

"An unbound soul! Miyuki-sama, if the kid isn't dead, then what's going on? I don't get it!" Rei whined, the higher pitches of her voice quickly annoying her friend.

"I don't understand any better than you but if you would please Shut Up for a minute, I'll bet we'll find some answers if we follow that soul."

Stunned from the authoritative tone of Miyuki's usually serene voice, Rei's chestnut colored eyes widened in realization, "That's such a wonderful idea Miyuki-sama!" That's Rei for you, the perpetual Yes-man...err - woman.

Therefore, they followed the soul half way through the city until they sensed a weak demonic aura. "Fifty yen says that demon eats souls."

"Miyuki-sama, that's so terrible! It's worse than eating a human, without a soul, a person doesn't exist, they're just gone! What are we going to do?"

"We are not getting involved."

"But Miyuki!"

"Stop whining. Humans eat animals, demons eat humans. It's the food chain, get over it."

"Miyuki. I don't like it."

"Because you're human."

"You wouldn't eat me though, would you Miyuki?"

Miyuki shook her head no, "I like you enough."

They continued to follow the soul, until it became apparent that another person was doing the same. Choosing to stay uninvolved would be problematic if another knew they could see the supernatural, so they stuck to shadowing this young teen. "Humans aren't supposed to see souls, who is this kid?" Miyuki thought as she and Rei followed him to the entrance of a darkened alley. Everything was going well until the little punk got into a fight.

"Great, now I don't know whether to follow this kid or go after that demon. I guess, since I came here looking for yokai, I should go," she thought, watching the demon walking away. Then she said, "Rei, I want you to go home now. This could get dangerous and I don't want you hurt."

"Okay Miyuki-sama, but be careful alright?"

"Sure, now get going."

Silently, Miyuki tracked the tall, broad-shouldered demon out of the city and then into a forest. She hid herself in the treetops, jumping from branch to branch as quietly as she could. Stealth wasn't necessary with this demon; he was all muscle and no brain, that much was clear. Who the hell is so stupid as to steal a soul in the middle of a crowded street? Nevertheless, the power she felt ahead alerted her sense of self-preservation. After only a few more minutes of scurrying around, in the rain I might add, the demon joined two other beings. One human, the other a demon.

Miyuki perched herself elegantly on a thick tree branch, close enough to the group to hear what was going on but far enough up that she wouldn't be seen. The bark was rough and scratched her hands as she crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back.

"We've done it! All Three Grand Treasures of Darkness are ours! We can rule over Ningenkai with these!" The demon she followed spoke. Miyuki decided she hated his voice and vowed to rip out his vocal cords on the first chance she got.

"Feels great doesn't it?" This time it was the shortest of the three, clad in black and wielding a sword, he jumped around like a flea and struck down the tree directly to Miyuki's left.

"Kami-sama, I'm so glad I wasn't sitting there." A tiny reddish-brown colored demon appeared where the tree had fallen. "So it turns things into demon minions? Cool. That's kind of useful."

Then the little one proudly proclaimed, "The Kama no Ken, which turns every human it cuts into a demon! What do you think? With this, I can create a thousand beasts like that! The kind that eat people!"

"That's great Hiei. And I, Goki-sama, will see to feeding them. With this Gakidama!"

In the tree above, Miyuki almost laughed, "He actually refers to himself as Goki-_sama_? At least I know his name now, and the short one's too. Come on guys; tell me who the red head is." She never said anything out loud though, determined not to involve herself but also curious to know what was happening.

Hiei started talking again, "Then, on the night of the full moon, once we use Kurama's Ankokukyo, the Human Realm will be in our grasp!"

"I'm going to chalk it up to coincidence that he said 'Kurama' right as I asked what the guys name was...it's just too freaky."

Stepping out of the shadows, Kurama looked to Hiei and said in a most dignified manner, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to let me back out."

His two comrades were on him in a millisecond and in unison they asked, "What?"

Hiei alone practically demand an answer, "What's this about, Kurama! You're not telling us you're quitting our gang here, are you?"

"That's right."

"I like the sentiment. He doesn't want to take over Ningenkai, but...there's something about him I don't like. His aura doesn't sit well with me." Miyuki let out a low sigh, "If Rei were here she'd say I'm just being paranoid."

"You coward! While you were concealing yourself, it seems you fell right in to your Human Realm way of life, haven't you!"

"We're not obliged to split up the treasure equally with that kind of a punk! Now, give back that mirror!"

"Gees, what an idiot. This Goki guy is really getting on my nerves."

"I can't do that. I absolutely need it."

"I knew something wasn't right about this guy. What's he planning?" Suspicion shone in Miyuki's earth toned green eyes and then Goki opened his mouth again.

"In that case... I'll take it back by force!" The big dolt drew back his fist and Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly. Just as Goki was about to land a solid right hook, another voice joined the conversation.

"Hold on a second!" The people in the forest clearing all turned their heads as that little street punk Miyuki saw earlier suddenly emerged, "I wonder if you'd allow me to get out of the rain for a bit. I'll have to have you hand over the three treasures. You can bicker amongst yourselves all you want afterward there, thief-san."

Miyuki face-palmed, "This kid's got a lot of guts, I'll give him that. But his strategy is pathetic. Does he really expect them to give up those things without a fight?"

Hiei, who was closest to the boy glared and rudely questioned, "How is it you know about us and the treasures!"

Then Goki, still regaining his composure after the surprise arrival, "Who the hell are you!"

The street punk in green tossed aside the leafy branch he'd been holding to keep dry and declared, "I've been waiting to use this line! Won't you be surprised! Spirit Realm Detective, Urameshi Yusuke!"

"Spirit Detective? Since when did King Yama employ humans to do his dirty work? Doesn't he have the SDF to do that?" Miyuki pondered, trying to recall everything she knew of Reikai and it's leaders.

"He was chosen by the Spirit Realm to come after us! I don't feel any spiritual power from him, considering who he is."

Sometimes, Miyuki gets a little suicidal and only just stopped herself from jumping down to say, "Thank you Hiei, that cleared things up a lot."

Goki's grating voice reached her delicate ears again, "I could take him down in one blow!"

"One hit is all it'd take for me to kill you too baka. Ah, I need to get out of here, any more time with these goons and I might end up involved with something way over my head."

"Hey! What's going on!" Yusuke's full attention was on Kurama who had turned to walk away now.

"Sorry, but I cannot be captured just yet."

"Man, my life is just full of choices isn't it? Follow Kurama and find out what he's doing or stay and watch the battle I know is sure to come? Normal teenage girls watch TV at this time of night, I watch demons fight. Life is grand."

"Hold it, Kurama! We're not done talking to you either!" Then, Hiei disappeared.

"Wow, I should learn to do that..."

"Hey, come on! Here someone's gone to the trouble of dropping in on you...!" Yusuke paused, balled his hand into a fist and growled, "They aren't very polite."

Goki's laugh attracted his attention, "Don't be disappointed. I've got better manners than them. If you want my treasure, you're free to try to take it away from me by force!"

"I could say so many things right now, but none of them would be right. I don't need the mental pictures!" Poor Miyuki; she's been reading too much yaoi!

Yusuke smiled, "You've got guts! Don't go pulling any scared faces now!"

Then Goki took a few steps towards him. The demons size alone must have intimidated him a little because the boy's posture imediately became defensive. "However, you'll have to wait until I've had my fill." He pulled the Gakidama from his pocket, "This ball is quite convenient. It draws in human spirits for me. The body is foul-tasting and inedible, see? If you don't finish quickly, there's a big fuss, and it gets to be a pain. On that point, the Gakidama settles things simply. It allows me to eat all the fresh spirits I ever want to!"

"Oi, when exactly will the fighting start? I'm getting bored up here."

"Is that the spirit of the child who just collapsed!"

"Maybe I should have followed Kurama after all; this is taking way too long. I want to see some action! If all they're going to do is talk -"

"Why you! Spit that out!" Yusuke's fervent cry jostled Miyuki from her thoughts, and she watched as he delivered a solid kick to Goki's gut. She realized then that the demon must have eaten a child's soul in front of Yusuke who apparently had big moral problems with that. "You bastard!" Not loosing a beat, Yusuke's fist collided with Goki's jaw, leaving a very red mark. The beast fell to the ground. Miyuki and Yusuke watched the soul float off, supposedly back to it's body.

Yusuke walked to pick up the Gakidama and just as he finished saying, "Two to go," Goki emerged behind him.

"Pretty good for a human."

"Don't overdo it! I clobbered you pretty hard! It should be all you can do to stand up!"

"Eh? Doesn't he realize he's fighting a yokai? Dimwit..." she would have continued her little rant too, but then Goki began some kind of transformation. His energy spiked upward, muscles expanded, hair and claws grew. "It's the wolf-man!" [Ten points to anyone who can guess what anime Miyuki was thinking of when she said that.] "Ew, he's really ugly."

From her perch in the trees, Miyuki watched their fight. Aside from a scratch or two here and there, she didn't see any blood shed, and was bemused at best. "I've been gypped! At least if I had followed Kurama I might know something of what's going on. This is just pathetic." Just as Yusuke was about to be killed, a collective group of voices came within range, or rather, one voice disguised as many. Goki ran off, leaving the boy behind. "Anti-social much?"

Miyuki stretched and stood, balancing herself on the branch, then darted off into the woods, following closely behind Goki. When the soul-devouring demon finally stopped, she called out to him, "Goki! Are you ready to die?"

Shock covered his face until he realized it was only a girl who spoke. He laughed at her and began changing into his more formidable form again, "You really think you can beat me, little girl? I'll rip you apart and devour your soul!"

"Keep talking." Miyuki held her arms out in archers pose. Her yoki channeled into her hands and formed a glowing, flame-like, bubblegum pink bow and arrow.

"You're pretty strong for a human girl, I bet your soul tastes great, a bit spicy hu-"

She jumped up and shot the arrow down his throat, it tore through his esophagus straight to the stomach. Though it might have destroyed a soul or two on the way, she did kill the demon and picked up the Gakigama. "Too easy. Why can't I have any challenging opponents? Oh well. Now to get this to Urameshi Yusuke." What? It's not like she needs it for anything. She knows it belongs to Spirit World, and that Yusuke was sent to retrieve it. "Darn, my Harley is still at that parking garage, and it's soooo far from here." Now look who's whining. Miyuki shouldn't get on Rei's case so much.

It took all of an hour to walk from the far edge of the forest, through it and back to the city where she boarded a bus. It wasn't crowded by Japanese standards; they could fit another twenty or so people in easily.

Two hours and sixteen minutes later, she left the bus smelling of men's cologne and leather polish. Those businessmen stood much too close for her comfort. Traffic slowed her drive home significantly but after announcing her arrival back, she was met with tear filled eyes and a tight, bone-crushing hug around her neck. "MIYUKI-SAMA! I was so worried! You were gone for so long!"

"It's alright now Rei, nothing to worry about. I'm okay really. Stop crying." She held Rei for a moment, and when the younger, shorter girl finally stepped back, Miyuki lovingly wiped away her tears. "I made dinner for us, it's in the fridge, just give me a minute to heat it up okay, Miyuki-sama?"

"Sounds great, arigato gozaimasu."

Within seconds, they were seated on the floor opposite each other across a small table.

"Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu."

Their dinner wasn't exactly elaborate; calamari over udon noodles and a spicy soy sauce with chocolate cornets for dessert. "You've outdone yourself Rei."

"I had to do something while you were gone, but I didn't make the cornets, I picked them up on the way back here." They finished the meal in pleasant silence, washed and put away the dishes together and then Rei went to shower. So Miyuki opened her phonebook and started calling all the Urameshi's in the area. Fortune smiled upon her that night, with only two listings it wouldn't take long to find out where Yusuke lived. One of the homes listed was a rich suburban area; judging from the kids fighting and attitude, she guessed that one couldn't be it. The other was closer to the city, still suburban but more lower-middle class. That had to be it.

"Miyuki-sama, it's all yours." Rei emerged from the bathroom wearing pink silk pajamas with little white rabbits printed all over the bottom pants and one on the breast of her shirt.

"Hai, listen Rei, I'm going to leave early tomorrow, there's a little errand I have to run. Can you clean the room a bit while I'm out?"

"Anything for you Miyuki-sama!"

Miyuki spent a good ten minutes letting hot water pour over her body before lathering up a wash cloth and cleaning the dirt and oil from her body, watching her fair flesh turn red as a rose before washing her hair. She watched the water spin down the drain after turning the showerhead off and squeezing her hair gently to wring out excess water. The fluffy white towel hanging on the back of the door was soft to her now over-sensitive skin. Finished drying her body, she wrapped her hair up and dressed for bed. Black silk pants with a white circle on her thigh and a white silk top which also had a circle on it, but this one was black and on her shoulder. Yin and Yang.

Rei was sitting up against the wall again, towel drying her short brunette hair. Miyuki went to the closet to gather their purple pillows and blanket then pulled the bed out from the wall, threw the pillows up on one end and straightened out the blanket. She sat there on the edge, unwrapped her hair and combed out the silken strands with her fingers and proceeded to french braid it, then coiled it into a bun and fastened it into place with a few pins she'd stuck to her shirt sleeve in the bathroom. It was going to be curly tomorrow.

Rei climbed into bed and drew the cover up to her waist, waiting for Miyuki to join her. After lying down next to her only friend and pulling the blanket around both their shoulders, she kissed Rei's cheek and said good night. The two snuggled close and slept will until morning.

At five that morning, Miyuki awoke and dressed in her usual outfit. Having a limited wardrobe, she matched all of her garments to one another - but it limited color choices severely. White, black and green were her staples and today she picked up a sleeveless green tank top and black boot-cut dress pants. Paired with black leather boots and belt, the overall effect was clean, casual and, with the right jacket, even professional.

She picked up the Gakidama from last night, which was now in a cardboard box, and placed it in her shoulder bag. Band patches littered the bag on all sides - Nana Kitade, L'Arc~en~Ciel, Kalafina, et al. The Urameshi household wasn't too far away actually, a forty or fifty minute walk and it was early, they might not even be awake yet!

Meanwhile, Yusuke was being congratulated by Botan. She had left him for Reikai last night, after healing some of his wounds and leaving him in the care of his mother, who was surprisingly at home. Hours later the ghost of Goki appeared in the waiting room of Spirit World, and they had all assumed Yusuke had taken care of him. Had they listened to anything Goki said, they might have found out otherwise, but that's authority for you.

In the kitchen, Atsuko was making tea and snacks for her son and his lady-friend-who-was-not-Keiko when she heard a distinct knock at the door. The middle-aged alcoholic opened it to see a tall, busty teen. Other than Keiko and now the blue haired girl in her son's room, Atsuko wasn't used to seeing many kids Yusuke's age around. A moment of stupefied silence passed, "Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you so early ma'am, but does Urameshi Yusuke live here?"

"Yes he does, but what do you want with my son?"

"Nothing much really, I just came by to give him this. It's a bit of a surprise, so don't tell him I was here okay?"

"Alright."

"Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day!" Miyuki ran off to do some shopping.

Atsuko in the meantime finished making snacks for her boy and his guest.

"Yusuke, breakfast's ready! And you have a package waiting for you on the counter! Botan-chan, you come eat too!"

"Eh-heh, thank you very much."

"We'll be there in a minute ma! And stop barging in like that; we're in the middle of talking about something very important right now!"

"What's this?" Atsuko pulled her son up by the collar of his shirt, "Is it anything that can't be said in front of your own mother!"

"Now, look, it's not like that! That's not what I'm saying at all!"

"Whatever, hurry up and come eat."

After she left, Botan and Yusuke returned to their earlier discussion.

"Yusuke, if you didn't kill Goki, then who did? And who has the Gakidama now?"

"How should I know! Isn't that your job, or binky-breaths? I'm just here to fight the bad guy and return those treasures!"

"Oh, we're in big trouble now! King Yama will have a fit if they aren't in the vault when he returns!"

"Botan, breath! Let's grab something to eat now and you can worry about this later. I'm starving anyway."

"You always think about your stomach! Yusuke, don't you understand? The fate of the world rests on your shoulders!"

"Right, so no pressure there," He grimaced and walked with Botan out of the bedroom to the kitchen, "what's for breakfast ma?"

"Biscuits, melon, and raspberry tea. I thought I'd try something light this morning!" She's cheerful, I wonder if she's sober or not? Is this normal for her in either state?

"Hey, is this the package you were talking about earlier?" He pointed to a small cardboard box, taped down on all sides and a little worn.

"Yep."

Yusuke was suspicious, it could be anything, from anyone, and knowing how many friends he had; it was likely from an enemy. A trick or something of the kind. He cautiously removed the tape and then the top of the box, his and Botan's eyes widened, they gasped collectively in utter shock, "The Gakidama!"

"Well, Yusuke, I don't know who it is, but it seems you've got a friend on your side."

Atsuko, Botan and Yusuke ate breakfast quickly together in an almost awkward silence, then the detective and his assistant left to discuss the events that would unfold shortly. Kurama had appeared, and asked Yusuke for three days time. Botan still didn't have much information about the Ankokukyu and was absolutely determined to get some answers from Koenma.

Back with Miyuki, closer to her home, she browsed the isles of a small store. "Let's see, we had udon last night, and calamari. So, maybe ramen for lunch and cucumber roll sushi tonight. Something sweet for breakfast tomorrow, I know! Custard filled cream puffs, Rei loves those."

In less than ten minutes, Miyuki was in the check out line, "Your total comes to 1,960 yen." Miyuki handed the cashier exact change and left the store muttering about buying less expensive foods from now on, they just couldn't afford sushi and cream puffs all the time.

Miyuki wasn't the least bit surprised to come home finding nothing done, and Rei on her computer. "Rei-chan, what have you been doing all morning?"

Her friend looked up, "Ne, Miyuki-sama! I'm sorry, I meant to clean up but then I thought I would listen to some music while I worked and I found this really adorable AMV, so I looked up the anime and started watching it and...gomen! Gomen! Please forgive me Miyuki-sama!"

"I understand, you little otaku."

"Wah! Miyuki-sama, don't be so mean!"

"Hey Rei, tomorrow's Monday. What do you do when I'm not around?"

"Oh, normal stuff I guess, play games, watch movies, sleep, think about you, that kind of stuff."

Miyuki's eye twitched. "I see. Well, I have homework to do so why don't you go to the arcade for a while?" She tossed a coin-purse to Rei.

"YAY!" And with that, the girl practically disappeared. She says she doesn't like people, but nothing comes between her and a good game.

A stack of books knee high piled next to the door, on top was Japanese History I followed by calculus, English, and chemistry, and a few spiral notebooks beneath them. Exams started tomorrow at Meioh Academy, but they would be followed by a three-day weekend. Miyuki could take an extra shift at the cafe that Monday for a little extra cash.

She studied for hours, reading the textbooks, re-writing her notes, and filling out study sheets. When she was finally done, it was almost five and Rei had just burst through the door.

"Miyuki-sama! I'm back! I'm going to make dinner now okay?"

"You ran out of money didn't you?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"Only to me, but then, I've known you for so long, nothing surprises me."

"So I'm boring you?"

"Not at all! Rei-chan, your a stable figure in my life, I need you! You keep me sane when the rest of the world is in turmoil."

Rei wrapped her arms around Miyuki and squealed in delight.

Days passed, Miyuki busied herself with school, work, and Rei; until one afternoon, after school while she was waitressing at the cosplay cafe [I'm taking suggestions for a name for this cafe, any help would be appreciated!], she overheard a group of guys talking about one thing in particular that actually interested her. She made sure to stay around that table while they talked, and after her shift ended, she sprinted home to tell Rei the news.

"Rei! Genkai is hosting a tournament to find a new pupil!"

Rei, who was eating nagi at the time, glanced at her friend bemusedly, "But you're already so strong Miyuki-sama, why would you need to train with that old lady?"

"You really are a normal human aren't you? Genkai is one of the most powerful psychics still alive today! Her power surpasses my own, and she's 100% human! She's a legend and besides, she knows Koenma, which means Urameshi Yusuke will be there."

"Miyuki-sama," Rei's eyes filled with tears, "you don't like that boy more than me do you? You talk about all this spirit world stuff all the time!"

"I don't like him at all, I'm curious about his strength, that's all. Besides, no one could ever take your place in my heart. I love you, Rei, remember that."

"I love you too, but are you going to this tournament? Are you going to leave me here alone!"

"Calm down, it's only for a day or two."

"Unless you win, then you'll be gone longer."

"I'm not going to win, I'm going to stay in the fights as long as Urameshi does and then I'll forfeit. Don't you get it? I don't want to be away from you."

That Friday night, after a day of school and cosplay, Miyuki kissed Rei goodnight, and fell into a peaceful slumber. Saturday morning would be tough; Genkai's tournament began and the challenges to be met were said to be extremely difficult, meant to push one to their absolute limit.

As usual, Miyuki was the first to wake. For the first time in almost a year, she took the time to eat breakfast. Nothing fancy, just a strawberry granola bar and a cup of black tea. She left a note on her pillow for Rei, and left the apartment in a black t-shirt and shorts with white ballet flats, arm and leg warmers. Her hair was pulled into a severe, practical bun.

She decided to stretch her muscles before the main event, and ran all the way from the apartment to the trail leading up to Genkai's home. The entrance was marked by scrolls, which gave Miyuki an awful headache when she walked past them. Wards to keep demons away, but she was still half-human, and they were meant for weaker demons anyway. A strong enough yokai could practically waltz through them unharmed.

Over a hundred humans gathered outside the temple. A few demons were there, weak ones who must have already been on the premises before the wards were put up, disguised themselves as humans physically but had no control of their yoki and were easily pinpointed by Miyuki. She made a note to avoid these weaklings, they weren't worth her time. She focused instead on finding Urameshi, but it was the boisterous voice of another human who alerted her to his presence first.

"Urameshi!"

"Kuwabara!"

"W-what are you doing in a place like this!"

"You tell me why _you've _come here!"

Miyuki stared at the two, "I'm going out on a limb and saying they know each other." She listened as Kuwabara explained himself. "So, he has strong spirit awareness. Not good! What if he notices me? Yusuke's experience with demons hasn't been pleasant so far, he could attack me." She growled, "How annoying." She brought her energy down to that of the average human, and hoped it wasn't too late, that maybe the energy of those around her had masked her presence till now.

Suddenly, a male voice from the front of the crowd shouted, "Everyone, be quiet! Master Genkai will now see us!"

The doors slid open, nothing but darkness was revealed, a voice spoke from the abyss, "How good of you to have all gathered here." Genkai, a short, wrinkled woman with tremendous power seeping from her being, stepped forward. The crowd whispered and gossiped, could this really be the legendary psychic Genkai? "So then, I suppose we should begin right away. The first screening is...a lottery!"

Every one gathered fell over in disbelief. These tests were supposed to be a judge of strength and skill, not luck!

Miyuki joined the line of contestants, not even seven feet behind Yusuke and his friend. She drew her lot.

"Everyone appears to have come up. Now then, open them up." After tearing open the miniature envelope, Miyuki realized just what kind of test this was. The old woman wasn't crazy after all. This paper turned color when strong energy came into contact with it. It's based around a plant in Makai that does the same thing; Miyuki could smell the plants nectar on the paper. Clever. "If you have a red paper inside, you are a winner. You have passed the first screening. Those who have won, come with me. Those who lost, go home now."

"Hold it!" Two very tall, hairy goons shouted at Genkai.

The smaller of the two (not that he was much smaller, same height, less muscle mass; we'll call him Goon #1) complained, "We are well-known spiritual practitioners from Kyushu!"

His companion jumped in, "We've brought ourselves a long way for this! What do you mean by having a lottery!"

"If we don't like your answers, then no matter if you are a master, you'll pay for this!"

"Your twittering is grating on my ears, you miserable piss dribbles...!" Genkai's agitation was apparent but these two guys just didn't get it.

"I like this woman already!" Miyuki said quietly in the background.

Genkai continued, "Do you mean to let my good will in allowing you to return home with your dignity go to waste?"

Goon #2, with sweat already shining on his forehead, shouted, "W-what did you say!"

"You call yourself a spiritual practitioner? Don't make me laugh, you're just a bogus showman, whom the lottery did not choose. Go straight on home, take a crap, and hit the sack!"

"I changed my mind, she might be okay, but I don't like her crude and vulgar tongue." This Miyuki did not voice, for fear of the Reihado master hearing her.

Goon #1 again, "You dare to mock us this far!"

Unable to restrain their anger any longer, the two goons raised their fists and made to attack Genkai, but the experienced fighter was not impressed. She demonstrated her power to the crowd by throwing them backwards without ever touching them! No single witness was not impressed. While their attention was on the now unconscious goons, Miyuki watched Genkai and heard her say calmly, "My Reihado must be getting rusty. In the past, those guys would have been scared off by just my stare." Miyuki was stunned; this psychic was even more powerful before? How strong can a human be, and if Genkai was this strong, what kind of power could Miyuki herself attain under the woman's tutelage? "I guess you can't win against age."

Genkai spoke louder now, intending for her smaller crowd of winners to hear, "Well, don't just stand there, hurry and come with me."

The fighters followed behind her, each either still amazed by her power or imagining the power they could have. Yusuke and Kuwabara lagged behind a bit. Genkai led them all to a game room inside her temple. The lights and noise made Miyuki cringe. A short, traditionally dressed young man with round eyes and a button nose stepped forward out of the throng of people, "M-master, excuse me, but how is this connected with your screening us as pupils?"

Genkai, who was suspended in the air above them in a metal basket, answered, "These are no ordinary games. These machines will measure how high your spiritual abilities are. The janken (rock-paper-scissors) game measures your spiritual faculties, the punching game measures your spiritual attacks, and the karaoke game is specially made to measure the amount of Reiki you have. Unless you pass two or more of these three games, you can go right on home."

"Janken might be a tough one for me but the other two, I'll definitely pass." Miyuki thought, "I wonder how Urameshi and his friend will do." She didn't need to worry about them though, in minutes the two had already passed the punching game. Kuwabara scored 129 points, and Yusuke, 155. "Not bad for street punks." She let the amazement of the crowd die down and other fighters play before her. With one solid punch, the machine showed the bright red digits: 182. Another fighter had scored 175 before her and one had even gotten as high as 190.

Next, at the janken game, Kuwabara made a perfect score, Yusuke failed miserably though, and Miyuki only got about half of them right. On sheer luck, she was sure.

Some of the people who 'sang' (and I use that term very loosely) made Miyuki want to rip off her ears, while others had somewhat pleasant voices. Thankfully, Miyuki was blessed with a song she knew when her turn came up: Tsukiakari no Michishirube by Stereopony. She scored 98 points, passing with flying colors but a little disappointed in herself, Miyuki thought that maybe if she hadn't been so preoccupied with masking her energy, she might have done better.

After reviewing the results of this screening, Genkai led the winners back outside for her third test. She turned to the crowd scowling, "Up until now, you've had no worse than warm-up tests. The third screening will be more harsh! This whole area is called the enchanted forest. It is an undeveloped land where compasses do not work. There are also dangerous creatures and natural traps. Once entered, an ordinary person will ultimately not leave unharmed." She raised her arm and pointed up hill behind her, "The giant tree you can see from here is your goal. Those who can reach that tree within two hours will pass."

A few of the potential students proved themselves unworthy of Genkai's time; they ran away like frightened dogs from this forest. Miyuki was more than a little creeped out by this place herself. It felt like the forests of Makai. She had become too used to the human world and its safety. Yusuke made a disgraceful display and was chewed out by Genkai, before she let everyone into the forest.

Miyuki stepped over the barrier and waited for the martial artists to disperse. She released her energy, and used it to frighten away any creatures living in the forest. Those who were not intimidated could be avoided, the forest was dense and it would take a while to traverse but she made her way through as quickly as possible, watching for traps. At one point, she came upon a human contestant, who had paused to sense which direction to continue in. "Kuwabara-san! That's right; he has tremendous spirit awareness. If I follow him, he'll easily lead me out of here in plenty of time. But, if he senses me following him..." The carrot-top teen sprinted forward, forcing Miyuki to make a quick decision. She took to the trees following him, five minutes later he stopped again, changed direction and ran for another few minutes.

This continued for nearly an hour before he stopped, "Alright, whoever's following me come out now!"

"He knew I was here? Why didn't he say anything sooner?" Miyuki jumped down beside him and smiled, "Kuwabara-san, hi!" She took a cheerful tone and while Kuwabara was a little frightened at her demonic aura, he went into schoolboy mode, hearts floated around his eyes and drool started coming to the corners of his mouth. "Ne, Kuwabara-san, can't we help each other out? I'll keep the monsters at bay and you lead us out?"

"I will do my best to keep you safe beautiful lady! It's my duty as a man!"

Miyuki rolled her eyes, "That's very kind of you, Kuwabara-san. Thanks!" She was still a little angry that he assumed she needed protection just because she was a girl.

When they got closer to the edge of the forest, the two split up, Miyuki saying she didn't want Genkai to know they helped each other, the woman might consider it cheating, even though she didn't say anything against it before. Kuwabara agreed and used his spirit awareness to reach the end of the forest and Genkai. He arrived first with Miyuki coming in behind him only four minutes later. Unfortunately, this also meant two other fighters reached the tree before her. When she got there, they were talking about Yusuke's mission with Reikai; good news travels fast. "How do _they _know about _that_?" Miyuki thought.

"Hey! It's you!" Kuwabara exclaimed when he saw Miyuki.

"Kuwabara-san, congratulations, I take it you were the first to arrive?"

"That's right! Aren't I awesome!"

"Sure are!" Miyuki laughed at his antics, silly human trying to impress her when she already has a lover!

They passed the rest of the time silently waiting for the other contestants to show up. Nine in all when time was up, but then Yusuke started coming up the hill, out of breath and jacket torn.

"Dammit, I thought coming straight through would be the quickest way, but that was rough!"

Genkai stared at the boy with wide eyes, "Straight through, you said? The bat trainer along the way must have been pretty formidable."

"The bat trainer?" Yusuke blinked, "Oh, that guy. He was annoying, the way he zipped around, but compared to Hiei's speed, he was slower than snot! That guy was no match for me!" He laughed and Miyuki wondered if he was sane at all. Then Kuwabara grabbed his friend by the front of his jacket and shook him.

"Idiot! This is no time to be laughing! Time ran out on you!"

Yusuke turned to Genkai, afraid what his friend has said was true, "What! Is that right?"

In a merciful mood, Genkai answered, "Well, all right. Just for today, I'll overlook it."

"She really is a nice person isn't she?" Miyuki thought.

Kuwabara and Yusuke hugged each other in their fit of excitement and relief. Then broke apart and started play fighting to guard their masculinity. Men! Can't do anything with them! When their little display was over, Genkai led the ten semi-finalists to their next challenge.

"For the fourth screening you will do actual fighting. This will be your arena." Behind Genkai stood a dojo-like building. She pushed open the doors, and the light from outside briefly illuminated the room. Against the opposing wall was a giant Buddha statue, the floor was treated wood. Once the doors slammed shut, all were left in total darkness.

"Hey, Ba-san, we can't see nothing in here, can we?" Yusuke, once again proving to be a most disrespectful little brat complained.

"How do we fight our opponents if we can't even see them?"

In the darkenss, Miyuki's spiritual awareness heightened immensly. She focussed on her surroundings while the boys battled the psychic's reasoning. Energy, of various strength and purity flowed gently around it's owner's body. Kuwabara, she decided, was not someone she wanted to fight. He was a good person with a strong heart. His aura was bright yellow, a warriors spirit.

A lamp above their heads glowed; in the light, auras were harder for Miyuki to see. She trusted her eyes a bit too much at times. Genkai puffed on a cigarette, and blew out the smoke onto Kuwabara and Yusuke. "Gross. I hate smokers. It's a disgusting addiction."

"You will fight the first round in the dark, as you seek out your opponent's Reiki. I will also allow the use of tools and weapons. The only way to win is to defeat your opponent and come back here."

Sweat poured profusely from Kuwabara, his senses on overdrive from the concentration of Reiki in the room. Yusuke looked over and joked, "What's wrong Kuwabara? You're not afraid because you just heard you'll be fighting one-on-one, right?"

"I'm getting an awful terrible feeling about this. Somewhat creepy, you might say. All the while since we came from the forest, it's been looming over me, and I can't shake it. It's almost as if some wild animal or monster was lurking at my side."

An apology almost escaped Miyuki's lips, she thought maybe, it was her energy creeping him out, but then Yusuke whispered, "Well then, that means the Yokai Rando is still among us, trying to get the master's secrets."

"Rando? Who's that?"

"You've got to be kidding me! He's here on a mission! He didn't even come to train with Genkai!" Miyuki was astonished to say the least; Urameshi Yusuke was certainly an interesting character.

"Now then, before we begin, let me have you introduce yourselves." Genkai brought the attention back to her. Across from Genkai, on her left side, a proud posturing man with an eye-patched stepped forward before the small group.

"I am Musashi, a fourth-degree master of the Shinbatto style of Kendo. Utilizing my spiritual capacities, I am a demon slayer."

Miyuki grimaced, and prayed to the Buddha that she would not be the one fighting him.

Then the shortest fighter spoke, he was the same one who questioned Genkai in the game room, "Likewise I am a spiritual practitioner, named Shorin. I hold a Shodan rank in Kenpo, and travel the land in training."

Next, the green haired fighter, with scars on his face said, "I am Kibano, a martial artist. I have mastered all forms of combat, and am challenging the limits of the body."

The overweight Chinese man spoke up next, "I am Chinpo, a wanderer from China."

Mr. Nazi Ninja in Red came forward, "I am Kazemaru, descended from ninja. I serve as a bodyguard to VIPs. I am also an expert in modern ninja techniques."

After him came a man that looked as though he'd be more comfortable in an office, "I am Kuroda, an assassin. A master of the knife. "

[New character alert! Don't worry, he won't be here long!] "Daruma. The puppet master." Snickering could be heard around the group. His name is Daruma! Daruma! Like the doll! HA-Ha-haha!

This was followed by Kuwabara and Yusuke who had to make a competition of it.

"I am Sarayashiki Middle School's number-one delinquent, Kuwabara Kazuma!"

"Urameshi Yusuke! Sarayashiki Middle School's special number-one super-delinquent!"

Then it was finally Miyuki's turn! YAY! Miyuki gets to introduce herself for once! "Tsukihara Miyuki, half-demon. Nice to meet you." Nice, just announce it to the world what you are Miyuki! "I didn't want to say that, but I had to say something...Why can't there be anything special about me besides that!" she berated herself fiercely.

Suddenly, without even half a second after introductions, ten arrows reigned down and stuck their tips inch deep into the floor. "Pick any arrow you like. It will be the lot you draw to match up against in the tournament."

They all picked up an arrow, the matches were decided: Shorin vs. Chinpo, Musashi vs. Kuwabara, Kibano vs. Urameshi, Kazemaru vs. Kuroda, and Tsukihara vs. Daruma.

"The first match is Kuroda and Kazemaru!" Genkai shouted out, the two fighters walked stiffly towards the darkness. Kuroda pulled out two daggers and spun them in his hands. They stopped at the edge of the lamp light, and turned to Genkai, "There's one thing I'd like to ask. Owing to my profession, I have come here with the assumption that there would be killing. Moreover, my first opponent is also a business rival. I will not hold back."

"As I said, this is a serious fight. I would have thought those who fear for their lives would have gone home at the third screening."

"Oh, one other thing," Kuroda continued, holding up one blade, "Even if I win, you aren't going to turn over your secrets to an assassin, right?"

"Whoever is chosen, no matter what kind of man, or woman, they might be, I will hand over my secrets to them if they are qualified. No matter how evil a character he may be."

"I'm relieved to hear that. Now I don't have to worry about obtaining your secrets."

"Cocky bastard!" Miyuki shouted in her head, "I hate people like him."

Kazemaru, growing impatient (especially for a ninja) joined in, "I must say, you bark well, like a weak dog. Are you quite finished with your prattling?"

"What!" Kurodo turned on the balls of his feet to Kazemaru angrily. As they walked into the encroaching darkness, Kuroda explained, "I'm staking my life on my profession."

"As am I..."

"So when you lose, it will mean death for both." They disappeared into the black shadows.

"Begin!"

All strained to see and hear the battle that ensued. An easy task for Genkai and Shorin, and maybe even Musashi. Kuwabara and Miyuki only barely kept up while Yusuke and the other fighters were in the dark. Kibano could only see energy with his little invention on, and Chinpo, while able to use Reiki, could not see it.

"That assassin bastard is doing slightly better." Kuwabara narrated.

"What? You can see?"

"Yeah, just a little bit."

Miyuki gasped as a large burst of blue violet light shot forth from one end of the room, Kazemaru was a force to be reckoned with! Such an incredible display of power! It made her blood rush with adrenaline. The ninja came from the darkness clutching his stomach, hurt and weakened from his own attack. What an amateur, you should never use so much energy that you leave yourself defenseless.

"The victor is Kazemaru."

He sat crossed-legged against a pillar under the lamp, using what was left of his energy to heal his wounds.

"The principle is the same!" A bubbly voice came through the door.

"Am I going insane or did you hear that too?" Miyuki asked Kuwabara.

"Yeah, I heard it."

"That voice!" It's as if he had an epiphany or something, Yusuke turned and pushed open the door of the dojo. He sprinted out to look for the owner of the cheerful vocals.

Kuwabara called from the opened doors, "Hey! Urameshi! Where're you going?"

"Come on Kuwabara-san, let's follow him!" Miyuki suggested with devilish glee. The two ran after Urameshi across the stone porch to a tree, where none other than Botan appeared.

"It's you all right, Botan. What are you doing here?"

The blue haired fairy girl answered, "I came because I'm worried about you." She launched herself from the tree branch and landed in front of Yusuke. "That Kazemaru guy can probably launch Reiki from his entire palm. Seeing as how he could spend that unusually large volume of Reiki must mean the technique requires a lot of training. What's more, even though he shot that much Reiki, he still has plenty of it left."

"Which means there's no way to beat him with Reiki, huh?"

"You betcha."

Kuwabara and Miyuki, spotting the pair at the end of the porch, hurried to catch up. "Urameshi! If you don't hurry back, the next fight is gonna...oh, who's this chick here?" he pointed to Botan, then regaining his sanity, grabbed Yusuke's jacket, "Urameshi! You've got Keiko-chan, and yet...why, you...!" The taller boy put the detective in a strangle hold as he tried to explain.

"Relax, Kuwabara! This is -"

"- Assistant Spirit Realm Detective Botan!" Botan finished, introducing herself. "Pleased to meet you! Although, I've seen you many times over, Kuwabara-kun." She materialized an oar and sat upon the handle.

"Whoa, she's f-floating in mid-air...!"

"I told you right? She's the guide to the Spirit Realm, and the ringleader who's forcing me to serve as a Spirit Detective." Yusuke's agitation grew, until her noticed Miyuki watching the three of them. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Having a laugh. We should hurry back to the fights now, or Genkai-sama might disqualify us all." She shook her head and turned around with her hands behind her back and walked off without them.

"She's weird, hey Botan, you don't think this Rando guy would dress up like a chick do you?"

"I don't think _she's _Rando, Yusuke."

"Kuwabara, you said you were getting a bad feeling from one of those other fighters' right? Seems like this frightening yokai named Rando has changed himself into one of them. My job this time around is to make sure that old lady's secrets don't fall into his hands."

"Hmm. I don't get all of this, but in any case, it means that this chick isn't your girlfriend, right Urameshi?"

Kuwabara approached Botan; I guess he has a hard time talking to girls because he was kind of awkward and stiff. "Please, come along with me, with the prospect of marriage in mind. My heart burns like an inferno for you- huh?" He noticed finally, the lit cigarette on his shoulder.

Genkai stood behind them, half way between them and the doors, "Are you planning on forfeiting your matches! If you wish to be disqualified, then stay right there!"

Miyuki peered at the four of them from the opened doors and mouthed "Told you so." at the two guys.

"No, you can't do that, Ba-san!"

"Coming right now!"

"I'll remember this later, you hag!"

Botan, Yusuke, and Kuwabara charged into the room, followed by the ever-calm Genkai.

The next fight was Shorin and Chinpo, "Second match...Begin!"

The victor was decided in less than fifteen seconds: Shorin, who feigned modesty, "Yow, that was a close one..."

"The third match will be Kuwabara vs. Musashi!"

"Try your best not to get killed!" Yusuke called after his friend.

"I'm not gonna be dying until I've beaten you!"

"Urameshi-san, I can't figure it out, I thought you and Kuwabara-san were friends?" Miyuki quizzically eyed Yusuke, waiting for a response that never came. Instead, Botan voiced her concerns for Kuwabara's safety.

"I hope Kuwabara-kun is okay."

"He might not be able to beat me, but he's still got considerable guts. I'm sure he'll be all right."

The victors, Kazemaru and Shorin, and the next fighters, Miyuki, Yusuke, Daruma and Kuroda, waited in silence. Snippets of conversation floated to their ears but it was too low to hear. The only things that could be heard were Kuwabara's yelps and the sound of flesh being struck.

"Kuwabara-kun, hang in there!"

"You bastard, don't just whimper in there, give it to him good!"

From the shadows finally came an audible voice, Kuwabara's, "Shut up! Don't worry about it! Rather than fuss about others, start worrying about your own match!"

Then Kuwabara and Musashi stopped fighting just long enough to brag. Kuwabara about taking beatings from Yusuke and Musashi about his wooden sword, "It is a sword of miraculous force against the wicked, and means certain death to the demons that I slay!"

"I'm really glad I'm not fighting him right now."

"Why?" Botan perked at Miyuki's strange statement.

"She's half-demon."

"Thank you, because I couldn't have told her that myself." She glared.

"Does Reikai know you're here?"

"I don't see how it would matter." Light erupted from the shadows, glowing yellow.

"What is that!" Botan and Urameshi yelled in unison.

"Kuwabara harnessed his Reiki into weapon."

With Kuwabara's victory ensured, the next fight began, "Tsukihara, Daruma, you're next!" Genkai's voice ricocheted.

Once more submerged in the all-encompassing abyss of shadows, Miyuki's sensory awareness started alerting her to the dangers of her opponent.

"Begin!"

The puppet master's energy suddenly shot out from his body, not to attack, but to manipulate dolls. Wooden dolls, that grew or shrank according to how much energy he focused into them. The dolls swarmed around her, one lunged and cut her cheek as she dodged. She made a hasty escape from them but only for a millisecond, she managed to put up a barrier around herself before the attacks began again. Her focus now split between upholding the barrier and the dolls, finding their master was more difficult.

"Coward! What's the matter? Don't have the guts to fight a girl by yourself?" She shouted into the darkness. Slowly, the dolls moved back until Daruma's energy was only around himself.

"How dare you insult Daruma the Puppet Master you insignificant worm! I'll crush you!" Miyuki dropped the barrier as he lunged forward, fist raised, energy flaring. She focused her energy into her usual weapon of choice, the bow and arrow, and released it at close range. Blood cascaded from the body as the head rolled back to the lighted area of the room.

Miyuki walked out grinning, but a little disgruntled at being splattered in blood. "So nasty," she complained, standing next to the other winners by the pillar, "I need a shower. Hey Urameshi-san, be careful, remember there are dead bodies still lying in there!"

Kibano, ready for his fight, said menacingly to his rival, "I won't hold back."

Yusuke didn't move. "Urameshi? What are you doing?" Kuwabara spoke in concern.

Kibano turned around to face Urameshi again, "What's wrong, have you lost your nerve?"

"No... I was just praying that you'd rest in peace."

"What are you showing off for!" Botan butted in, agitated and worried from watching the previous fights.

"Moron!" Genkai yelled and threw her cigarette at the teen, "You fool around, and I'll consider you to be forfeiting the match!"

"Ba-san, if you want to see me in a match, I guess I can get down to it."

No longer interested in watching the fights, Miyuki sat next to Kazemaru and looked him over. "How do you think the next test will go? Five fighters pitted against each other in a brawl or one-on-one?"

"Unless someone forfeits or both of these fighters die, one-on-one isn't likely. Someone would have to fight twice in that scenario."

"If you don't win, who would you guess will?"

"You."

"I'm flattered."

"I won't lose."

Silence followed and Miyuki stretched out, waiting for the current fight to end. If Yusuke won, she'd stay until it was her turn to fight again. If he lost, well, she only came to see how far this detective would get. The next time she decided to pay attention to the group, Miyuki heard Kuwabara say, "His arm is getting abnormally huge!"

Botan sounded surprised as she asked, "What is that...?"

However, it was Genkai who answered her, "He's taking the Reiki that circulates outside his body and storing it up inside, making his attack power several times greater!"

"And Urameshi-san still can't sense it? He's weaker than I thought." She rested her head back again, and waited for the victor to emerge, almost sure it would be Kibano.

"The victor is Urameshi!" That shook Miyuki and the others a bit, he used a cigarette to locate his target! How lucky can one person be? Anyway, Urameshi explained to Kuwabara what his rei-gun was, which only led to Kuwabara complaining like a child.

"I get a sword and you get a firearm? That's a bit unfair, isn't it?"

"Fair is a human concept, in Makai, there is no such thing." They ignored Miyuki though.

Botan tried to wave off Kuwabara's jealousy, "Now, now, Yusuke is an official Spirit Realm Detective, after all! Okay, Kuwa-chan?" Kuwabara merely looked at Botan as if she'd grown a second head.

"We will now begin the final rounds! The first match will be Kazemaru vs. Urameshi!"

"What!" Yusuke stumbled backwards and cried out in righteous indignation.

"I was getting tired of waiting." Kazemaru grinned.

"But I just barely got done fighting, didn't I!"

"The order is entirely decided by the lot you drew. This is your destiny."

"Urameshi! You're pretty unlucky when it comes to drawing lots!" Kuwabara laughed at his friend.

"Do we have to fight in the dark over there again!" Yusuke drew back his hand and pointed into the darkened area of the dojo.

"No. For the next fights, we will change locations." The doors behind the old woman opened and the light streaming through temporarily blinded everyone. "Come with me!"

During the trudge, Shorin walked behind Genkai followed by Kazemaru and Miyuki, with Botan and Yusuke taking up the rear. Yusuke, still exhausted from his last fight, and Botan, more worried than before, whispered amongst themselves.

"Okay, we're here." At Genkai's words, every fighter looked before them at the vast field. The marsh was sporadically broken up with dead trees. "This is the site of an ancient battlefield. Many soldiers met with tragic deaths here. Troubled spirits wander around here as if they were piled on top of each other."

Kuwabara jumped back from the sight, "I can see things I don't want to see even more clearly than before! Why did I ever come here?"

"This place has the strongest spiritual power of anywhere on this mountain. It is the place most suitable for you to make use of your spiritual powers while fighting!"

Kazemaru's energy glowed with the blue color of healing light, "Indeed. I can certainly feel the power rapidly permeating within me!"

Yusuke and Kazemaru squared off before the other fighters, both determined to win. "Begin!"

"To have to fight consecutively, you really are an unlucky guy. I sympathize."

"What!"

"However, in the world of these matches, catching breaks and having luck are essential. The higher your spirit is, the more you can call upon your good fortune."

On the sidelines, Miyuki talked to herself, "Tch, fighters who rely on luck die, it all comes down to skill, stealth and strength. Killing your opponent before they kill you is the only essential thing in battle."

"It surprises me that there is someone other than myself that can shoot Reiki." Kazemaru added.

"Botan-chan; Urameshi-san, Genkai-sama, Kuwabara-kun and I can do that; why is he surprised?"

"Don't know...for a ninja, he isn't very perceptive." The girls snickered and watched the fight. Or rather, they watched Yusuke be beaten to a pulp, and then nearly take Kazemaru's head off if his punch had landed. Then the Nazi Ninja pulled out shuriken, the most well known weapon of the ninja, but these shuriken had an additional quality, "Those shuriken respond to your Reiki, and are drawn to it. In other words, until they hit their target, they will continue to pursue it!"

"You mean after all this, he's just going to stand their and let his little toys do all the work! I don't know if I should applaud for the ingenious trick weapons or be upset that he's so lazy and obviously a disgrace to the title he holds not to mention every honorable ninja to have existed thus far."

Momentarily distracted from his battle, Kazemaru rounded on Miyuki, "Don't think I'm going to let you get away with that! When I'm finished with him, you're next!"

Yusuke's screams filled the air. Finally forming some semblance of a plan in his head, the Spirit Detective ran towards the nearest tree. The shuriken followed his movements, and half of them became lodged in the tree trunk.

"What was that! The tree, it just exploded?" Botan's jaw dropped.

"Those shuriken contain explosives that react on impact! Even if you avoid them using obstacles like you just did, you can't avoid taking their damage! You're all out of options! Ha! Hahahaha!"

"Yusuke!"

"What the hell is he supposed to do?" His friends were tense from concern at the predicament Yusuke had gotten into.

Watching the shuriken come back to him, Yusuke made a mad dash towards his friends, yelling out to Kuwabara what to do after this fight. Yusuke expected to lose, but he wasn't going down alone, he changed direction. Now headed to Kazemaru, Yusuke made up his mind to take out his opponent with him.

"Urameshi! You dumbass! Stop it! Don't give up!"

"Yusuke!"

"Preparing an honorable death, are you? Have you forgotten I have my Reiki blasts!" Kazemaru forced his energy into the palms of his hand, a mixture of dark blue and psychedelic purple.

"I'm not going to punch out alone! You're coming with me!"

"Miserable fool! You're going to die trying! Take this!" He moved his hand in front of his body, aimed at Yusuke and then...Yusuke disappeared. "That's impossible!" The shuriken redirected themselves, locking on Kazemaru's fierce energy and made impact, exploding around him, he fell backwards onto the ground, barely alive. Urameshi's friends called out to him, trying to locate his presence but with no luck. They did see a hand coming through a swamp pond after a minute of searching.

"You goof, hiding out in a place like this!"

"I wasn't hiding! I fell in!"

Botan laughed nervously.

"You fell in! You mean you weren't counting on doing that just now?"

"What just now?"

Kuwabara pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at Kazemaru who was soundly beaten and barely breathing, "That."

"Can it be that I just won?"

Genkai joined the conversation here, "Kazemaru must have been surprised at you suddenly disappearing, kid, and it threw off the timing of his Reiki blast. Truly a chance victory. It means that Urameshi Yusuke was the one who had luck as an ally."

"U-unbelievable!" Kazemaru, who had been listening in on all this, rasped out before finally falling into a dead faint.

"I could say the same." Yusuke's shoulders slumped over as he attempted to stand again.

"You sure are one ridiculously tenacious man!"

"So it seems." Yusuke was relieved he had beaten Kazemaru on nothing but luck, however, that only meant Rando was still a contender for Genkai's power, and Yusuke's Reiki hadn't fully returned yet.

"The victor is Urameshi Yusuke! The next fight will be Tsukihara vs. Shorin!"

"Sorry Genkai-sama, I'm out. Thanks for letting me play the game! I had fun!" Miyuki stretched and started walking off.

"Fine, that's your choice, I'm a little disappointed though. You had a lot of potential. Alright then, the next fight will be between Shorin and Kuwabara!"

The pathetic screams of Kuwabara just reached Miyuki's ears as she left Genkai's place. She walked in a daze, contemplating the human world she had become so accustomed. She thought of the technology she'd gotten addicted to, the music she loved, the foods she enjoyed. "But my demonic nature doesn't agree with this way of life. I want to go back to Makai and to _him_, but...Rei. I couldn't leave her behind. What am I supposed to do? I can't be satisfied in either world can I?"

She didn't go home right away, Miyuki opted to meander through the town at the base of the mountain. Along one of the streets, she came to a little shop selling handcrafted, blown glass jewelry. A beautiful teal, glass-bead necklace caught her eye in the shop window. "Rei would love that."

The bell above the door jingled merrily, "Iraishimasu!" Already knowing what she wanted, Miyuki browsed the isles listlessly, and she turned down the assistance of an employee politely. On her way out, she snatched the necklace from the display and passed through the door again. She was a good twenty blocks away before anyone noticed the missing necklace.

She walked for over three hours, and took one bullet train and two busses back home.

"Tadaima! Rei? You here?"

"Miyuki-sama! You're back!"

"I brought something for you, catch!" She tossed the beaded necklace to her companion who caught it in her left hand and admired it with tear-filled eyes.

"You bought this just for me? Oh Miyuki-sama it's just perfect!"

"Only the best for my darling."

"Miyuki-sama, what happened at the tournament?"

"You remember that street punk we came across after following the soul of that little kid?"

"Yeah..."

"Turns out he's a Spirit Detective from Reikai. I took out his first target, and we met up again at Genkai's. 'Course, he doesn't know I was the one helping him during his last case. Anyway, we made it to the final rounds, but I backed out after Yusuke - that's his name by the way, Urameshi Yusuke... I told you all that before... anyway, he won against this ninja bastard. I guess we'll see who won the whole thing eventually. What have you been up to while I was gone? Keeping yourself out of trouble I hope."

"Nothing spectacular, I was online most of the day. We need more soy sauce and rice."

"I wish I'd known that before I left, could have picked it up on my way back. How much do you eat when I'm not here anyway! I just bought five pounds of rice two weeks ago!"

"I can't help it Miyuki-sama! I get so depressed when you aren't here!"

"Oh, I can't stay mad at you Rei. Come on, let's go to bed. It's past midnight already."

"'Kay!"

Six months passed without a sign of mass murder or the Spirit Detective. It was imposible to deduce who won Genkai's tournament with such limited information. It didn't matter much anyhow; she'd nearly forgotten the entire incident. At school, she busied herself with perfecting her image as the perfect student. At work, the dedicated cosplay otaku. With Rei, she was the loving provider. On her own, she didn't know what she was. The thought left her feeling depressed and empty.

Today, Miyuki sat by the window in the front of her class. The students had twenty minutes to spare at the end of class to study for makeup exams, if they needed it. "Tsukihara-chan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Hai, Kuroi-sensei?" Miyuki stood and came to the teacher's desk.

Ms. Kuroi pleaded with Miyuki, "I just got a call from Takanaka-san at the middle school downtown, one of his students is about to flunk out, I was hoping you could tutor him a bit?"

"You owe Takanaka-sama a favor don't you?"

"Hm, yes but...won't you help him anyway?"

"What's his name?"

"Urameshi Yusuke."

Miyuki thought for a moment, "I didn't think I'd see him again. If he's still alive, he must have won Genkai's tournament and underwent her severe training. This could be an excellent opportunity to see how much stronger he's become." She said out loud, "Sure. I'd love to help."

"Oh, I knew I could count on you!"

Later, as Miyuki made her way to her apartment, she noticed something peculiar. Makaichu bugs. Not many, just a few here and there, scattered about. "I hate other demons in my territory."

Yusuke showed up to school that day, endured the harsh criticism of his teachers and was even called into Takanaka's office. Keiko was not pleased with him although she was ecstatic to have him back. "Yusuke-kun, what did Takanaka-sensei want? You aren't going to be expelled are you?"

"He got me a tutor. Damn meddling teachers."

"Yusuke-kun, he only wants what's best for you. When's your first lesson?"

"Later today."

"Oh, well, you did remember to get your text books right?"

"Ha! Like I'm actually going."

"YUSUKE!"

"Alright, Keiko-chan. I'll go, but I won't like it."

"You do that. Call me later when you're done okay? I'm going to see a movie. There's this great foreign arts film that just came out!"

Early that evening or late that afternoon, depending on the way you look at it, a sober Urameshi Atsuko answered a definitive knock at her door. "Oh, it's you! Haven't seen you in forever."

"Hello, Urameshi-san. Is Yusuke-kun here? I'm supposed to come by to help with his homework."

"So you're Tsukihara Miyuki? I got a call from Yusuke's school, said he had a tutor coming over. He's not back yet, but you can wait in his room for him if you want."

"Thank you so much Urameshi-san."

"Call me Atsuko, everyone else does!"

Miyuki smiled as she entered the house, removed her shoes, and made her way to Yusuke's bedroom. The house was sparsely decorated, but clean and spacious. "If my mom were still alive...No. I won't start on that. It's been over for a long time now." Bitterly, she willed herself not to cry at the thought of her mother's death.

The perfect-for-every-occasion girl sat at Yusuke's desk, doodling in the margins of her notebook.

"There you are!" Botan's normally bubbly voice was frenetic and Miyuki almost fell from her seat to the floor.

"Botan-chan, it's been a while. What's up?"

"There's some big trouble headed this way! I remembered the way Yusuke acted around you at Genkai's and thought you might be able to help, especially after reviewing your fighting technique."

"How do you know how I fight?"

"Well, in Reikai, everything that ever happens in the Human World is recorded. We managed to enhance the video of your fight at Genkai's pupil screening. Won't you please help us? The fate of the world is currently resting in the hands of two fourteen year old boys, and two demon thieves on probation!"

"Can you get me to my place in ten minutes?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"If I'm going to fight, I'm not doing it in my school uniform."

"Grab hold of my oar, we'll be their in jiffy." Botan's tone was serious, but her words were ill chosen. Jiffy? This isn't a children's program you know!

At her apartment, with Rei gone for the evening, Miyuki changed out of her uniform and grabbed the closest, clean outfit to pull on (not to mention a pair of tennis shoes, she'd left her school shoes at Atsuko's house). "Let's go!"

"This is the entrance to the Demon City." The two girls were inside an abandoned storage building, where Botan had just lifted a tile from the floor. "Yusuke and Kuwabara are already there, Hiei and Kurama will arrive shortly. You all can introduce yourselves later. Good luck."

"Thanks." She jumped down through the small portal and landed on dry, cracked ground. Nearby, Yusuke and Kuwabara noticed her and rushed forward.

"Miyuki-chan! Lemme guess, Botan roped you into this mission too?"

"How was training with Genkai-sama, Yusuke-kun?"

"Brutal. That hag, I swear she'll pay for the hell she put me through one day! What have you been doing since then?"

"Working on my spirit awareness mostly. It's the only thing I really didn't do well on in Genkai's game room. Anyway, I thought it might be useful to feel Reiki other than just in the dark." The ground started to tremor, from it appeared hundreds of cloaked demons.

"Humans! It's the smell of humans!" they cried, "We can feed! We can feed! What a feast!"

"What are they?"

"Fugaki, like other kinds of demons, they survive on human flesh, but these things are weak."

"How do you know so much!"

"I'm half-demon after all Yusuke-kun, but just for your attitude, I think I'll let them have you." She smirked and jumped into the limbs of a nearby tree, watching as the Fugaki swarmed around her new teammates. She had every intention of interfering before they got killed, but she wanted to know what they could do on their own.

"We'll eat you! We'll eat you!" Furiously, they attacked the boys, one right after the other, alone their power wasn't great, it was their numbers that caused the trouble. Suddenly, another portal from above opened and in a spectacular display of light, two orbs - one red, the other blue - descended down upon them. The figures that emerged from the orbs landed on the branch above Miyuki. Whoever they were, they frightened all of the fugaki away.

Finally freed from his prison of human devouring demons, Yusuke looked towards the tree, "What was that light just now?"

"If you had problems with those guys, then it's clear how shallow your powers run."

"Shall we lend a hand?" The two came down from the tree with grace.

"K-Kurama and Hiei! Why are you guys -?"

"We were sent by Koenma, since he couldn't count on just the two of you."

"By cooperating with you two, he said it could be possible for us to be acquitted."

"Three. Miyuki's up the tree." Yusuke pointed back to where the two thieves had just come from. "Acquitted huh? Even Koenma can do some considerate things, can't he? Ah, let me introduce everyone! Kuwabara, this is Kurama," he said, pointing at the red head, "and that's Hiei." Miyuki jumped and landed next to Kurama, "Kurama, Hiei, this is Miyuki."

"Nice to meet you."

Our beautiful, busty, black-haired onna took one look at Kurama's aura and spouted, "I don't like you. Stay away from me." She moved away from the teen, and took her place between Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Well, don't know who you guys are, but if you're here to help we sure appreciate it!" Kuwabara announced to the two most recent arrivals.

"Do not misunderstand. I don't know about Kurama, but all I'm interested in are the treasures and items the Four Holy Beasts have stolen. I don't have the slightest inclination of cooperating with you!"

Kurama, still a little put off from Miyuki's earlier treatment, gave a slight laugh. Something between a laugh and a snicker actually.

"What was that? This guy's got a big attitude, considering how tall he is, doesn't he?"

Hiei looked up at Kuwabara, meeting his eyes, "What is it with you? Do you want to die?"

"Him I like."

Yusuke turned to her, "You have weird tastes."

"So desu ne?"

"What did you say? Why, you bastard!" Kuwabara made to deliver a punch to Hiei's face, but the quick demon dodged it by merely taking a step forward. Kuwabara landed on his face in a most comical manner.

Now less than ten inches from Yusuke, Hiei said, "Listen up, Yusuke! I will exact my revenge on you! You'd better watch yourself."

"Don't you ignore me, you lousy...!" Again Kuwabara tried to attack, and again Hiei dodged easily. This time, he stepped backwards, into his original position.

Kurama, trying to win over his acquittal, stepped in, "Cut it out! Hiei, deal with your quarrel after this job is over."

Yusuke's response got everyone in the right mood however, "That's okay! Right now, the more allies we have, the better! Anyhow, let's head up to the Labyrinthine Castle!"

The quintet started on their way towards the imposing castle. It loomed ahead in the distance with an unmistakably evil quality hanging around it. The very entrance appeared as a giant scull cut roughly in stone, to get in the castle, the group had to walk into the opened mouth. "So this is the entrance huh?" Yusuke was not impressed.

"The doorway is like a long tunnel!" Kuwabara kept the conversation going with his astute observation.

"It would be nice, if, like a tunnel, there was an exit."

Kuwabara, just to hear himself talk, said loudly, "One must enter the tiger's den in order to get the tiger's cub! All we can do is move forward."

"That's a pretty candid lack of strategy." Hiei commented

"What was that, you runt!"

"Let's go!" The bickering between Kuwabara and Hiei grated on Yusuke's last nerve, like he wasn't on edge already.

Just as the group of misfits was about to reach the end of the gateway, a large eyeball with bat-like wings flew in front of the exit. "Welcome to the Labyrinthine Castle!"

"It speaks!" came Kuwabara's surprised exclamation.

"Those who enter the castle must undergo the judgment of the Gate of Betrayal," the eyeball continued.

"Judgment?" Yusuke questioned, getting into a defensive stance. The eyeball flew to the wall opposite the five fighters, it pulled a lever previously hidden by a stone panel. The gateway trembled.

Kurama looked up, "What?" Everyone noticed the ceiling falling and quickly raised their arms to keep it from flattening them.

Out of sight, the eyeball spoke again, "How is that? It must be heavy right? That gateway is terribly sensitive and quite intelligent. It can tell how much power those who are holding it have and presses down with just enough force that they can endure it. If one of you betrays the others and tries to escape, the others will be crushed. Work together and eventually your strength will give way, crushing you all. Whichever you prefer."

"I'd like to get my hands on that bat thing!" Kuwabara's focus was momentarily disrupted by the laughter of the flying eyeball, and it did not go unnoticed.

"Stay focused on the weight or you'll kill us all!"

"Oh sure! Blame me! I bet I'm holding up a lot more weight than you are!"

"Shut it Kuwabara!"

The pressure of the gateway's ceiling strained their muscles, none of them could take this weight much longer.

"Yusuke, think of something! I don't want to die here!" Miyuki shouted to their (by default) leader. Yusuke merely grunted, the lives of his friends and teammates depended on him?

"I'm not about to die for the sake of you worthless humans!"

"Don't you even consider it, Hiei!" Kurama's brilliant green eyes flashed over to his former partner in crime.

"Oh, man. I knew we should have played some trust games!"

They struggled for only a minute before that eyeball came back. "This has always been my favorite part of the trial. Watching the way you squirm as your muscles begin to pop and tear under the ceilings weight. But of course, the best is your eyes. Seeing the gears of thought turn in desperation, thinking, questioning yourself. 'How long can I hold this? Will I die this way? Will one friend betray us and escape while we flatten? Or should I be the one?"

"For being little more than an eye, that thing sure has a big mouth." Miyuki ground out between clenched teeth.

"Just ignore that punk! Stick together," the ceiling lowered another inch, "and if anybody tries to run, I swear I'll drag him back myself!" Kuwabara threatened, directing his words to the only member of the group he thought would do such a thing.

"Hah! And I suppose you think it'd be noble if we all died as a team." Even Hiei, who prided himself on being stronger than any human, was having difficulty supporting the weight. Sweat beaded on his forehead beneath the fabric covering his Jagan.

"That's right!"

"Here's a thought: Let's shut up and find a way out!" Yusuke's eyes narrowed, the lever across the hall was directly in his line of vision. He figured if just one person could get to it... "Hiei! You're a lot faster than any of us! We'll hold the ceiling up while you go and flip the switch!"

"You crazy? We can't trust that guy! Just look! He doesn't care at all about us!"

To her carrot-top compadre, Miyuki spoke encouraging words, "Have a little faith, will you Kuwabara-kun?" but inside her own mind, she was in turmoil, "Yusuke-kun, I hope you know what you're doing. Are you sure you should trust a demon who's already promised to kill you?"

"Your ugly friend has a good point, detective."

"Who's ugly? Come here you mouse!"

"Are you sure you want to trust me? I've already vowed my revenge on you. Maybe I'll handle that now."

Miyuki would have fallen over is disbelief if she were able. Everyone is just so eager to voice her thoughts today!

"Yeah but I don't think quick deaths are your style. I'll let out all the spirit power I have left to buy us a little time, while you run to the switch. Just don't trip." Yusuke's Reiki increased, it flowed around him and pushed against the ceiling. "I trust you. Now GO!"

Hiei's stunned silence ended as he shifted his focus from the ceiling to his speed, running faster than Yusuke remembered he could, Hiei reached the switch with ease, and hesitated. The ceiling came down faster than before, two inches this time, and everyone struggled with the added weight now that they had to support what Hiei was not.

Hiei looked back at the people who had trusted him with their lives. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Miyuki still standing, Kurama kneeling, distributing the weight as evenly as he could. They were fighting for their lives and he didn't know what to think of it all. No one had ever trusted him like that before, but did that mean he could trust them later?

"What's the deal! Pull the stupid switch already!"

"There is no need to make snap judgments, my friend. What have they ever done for you?" the eyeball flew close to Hiei's face, trying to coerce him into betraying the others. "Leave them, and you can come with me into the castle. With the invasion of Earth, the Four Holy Beasts will control the future. Be smart, join us. Perhaps you can be the General of our demon army."

From under the sill lowering ceiling of the Gate of Betrayal came Kuwabara's strained voice, "Don't you dare you creep! If it hadn't been for our help, you'd still be here screaming with the rest of us!"

"Come on Hiei, we're counting on you!" Miyuki joined in.

Hiei finally moved his hand away from the switch and laughed.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Take a guess, you fool."

"Damn you!"

"Yes, you find amusement in their pain. Now imagine the satisfaction that will come from their final screams. A wise choice. The boulder would have crushed you anyway."

Hiei glared at the eyeball as it turned away from him. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. "Thanks for the clue!" He drew his katana and sliced at the eye leaving a bloody and deep vertical gash straight down the middle of it. Hiei again went to the lever and flipped it. The ceiling stopped coming down on his friends? Teammates? What exactly were they?

"He came through!" Yusuke's excited and surprised cry came from the three feet of free space still left between the ceiling and floor. From under the dropped ceiling, the four beings witnessed the boulder hitting the floor. They assumed Hiei had still been standing under it when the collision occurred and rushed out, afraid of a confirmation. Emerging from the tunnel-like gateway, they were relieved to find Hiei standing atop the boulder, glaring at the wounded eye-bat.

"Tell your masters, this is their chance to beg for mercy."

The eye-bat flew off in pain. Yusuke, exhausted from his ordeal, let out a deep sigh as his shoulders slumped over in relief.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I just can't feel my arms right now." Yusuke noticed Hiei before him, having come down from the fallen boulder. "I knew you'd save us! Ya' punk! But you did have me worried! Hell of an actor. Ya know not everyone can pretend to laugh at their dying friends!"

"Friends are just a crutch for the weak. And I wasn't acting." Hiei turned his back to the others. "Don't confuse it. The only reason I saved you was because I might need your help." The shortest member of their rag-tag team walked away, only just slightly further into the castle.

"It's his way of saying you're welcome. You will learn."

"Well, I feel loved."

The three boys turned to Miyuki confusedly, "How can you say that?" Kuwabara questioned, obviously thinking the girl had gone temporarily insane.

"He saved our lives _and_ admitted he might need us." She smiled and skipped down the hall, quickly catching up with her three-eyed compadre. Miyuki pulled Hiei by his shoulders into a hug. "Hiei-san, thank you!"

"Don't touch me." He shoved himself away and drew his katana once more, this time pointing it at Miyuki's neck. She laughed nervously, taking a step back with both hands raised in surrender.

"She's nuts, I tell ya, absolutely nuts! Such a shame too, I mean, she's hot. I almost asked her out once..."

"Like any girl would go out with you, Kuwabara!"

They traversed through the castle halls in uneasy silence. The gloomy lighting and chilled air affected their senses in the most horrifying negative way. Any sane, normal person would have fainted from the terror of it all. Interrupting the silence came a shrill ringing from Yusuke's pocket. Kuwabara over-reacted with his scream of fright as Yusuke took the little purple compact out. "Don't scare me like that! What do you have there?"

"When I was coming to Demon City, Botan gave it to me." He flipped open the little compact, a small wire antenna extended from the top.

"Yusuke, this is Botan in the Human Realm. Over." On screen, the blue haired fairy appeared holding up two fingers in a peace (or victory...your choice) sign.

Kuwabara made a grab for the mirror and pushed Yusuke's head out of the way, grinning madly he tried to engage Botan in conversation, "Hi, Botan-chan! Your man Kuwabara is helping the weak, crushing the strong, and making every effort to protect Urameshi!"

"Is it healthy for him to talk in third-person?" Miyuki whispered to no one in particular. Kurama shrugged nonchalantly, watching the scene play out.

"I'm relieved to hear that! There hasn't been any disorder on this end either as of yet. The Makaichu bugs can only be hosted by those who have shady minds, after all. I'm sure that such people are few, so the bugs must be unable to find hosts." During this little spiel, Yusuke took a moment to soundly beat Kuwabara for daring to touch his hair.

"I hope that's true. Be careful!"

"Yep. What's more, I caught another one of the small-time yokai from Demon City!"

Yusuke noticed the green and purple-skinned demon behind Botan on the screen, "Hey, behind you!"

Botan swung an aluminum bat over her shoulder, "It's okay! These guys are weak. More importantly, the makaichu bug problem is far more serious. I've spent the whole day today looking around, and I've only found 15 of them." She pouted.

"Fifteen out of several thousand, huh? That's just a drop in the bucket."

"On top of that, once they become parasitic," she turned to smack the same demon from early across the head with her bat again, "I'll have to take them on as humans, right! I won't be able to do this!"

"Understood. We'll take the big flute and destroy it without a moment's delay!"

"We came here for a flute?" Miyuki almost cried in disappointment and disbelief, she thought there would be momentous displays of bloodshed on this journey! So far there hadn't been a single fight she really needed to get into. She was getting bored.

"Don't overdo it! That's all, end of communication!" The compact's screen went dark. Yusuke closed it again and shoved it down back into his pocket. The five started walking again and after a while Yusuke pensively asked, "Miyuki, by the way, what kind of guys are these Four Holy Beasts? Like, what are our opponents' powers or techniques? I was in such a rush, I didn't ask anyone."

"Sorry Yusuke-kun, I don't know either."

"Seeing as how Reikai sealed them up in Makai, we know that they are a considerably dangerous group." Kurama supplied.

"That's all?" Kuwabara raised his eyebrows.

"They have been kept pretty far away from humans, so it might be surprising."

A rumbling, deep voice came from a far distance to Kurama's right. "Thank you for such words of praise! You guys are finished here!" The hallway suddenly lit up. Double doors with a rounded top were revealed by the light. The two humans forced them open. That might be an exaggeration actually; the doors didn't need to be forced, they swung open easily.

Two torches rested in a wall scone. Yusuke picked one up and pelted it across the room as far as he could, attempting to add a little illumination to the darkness. The torch light cast a giant shadow on the wall behind the first of the Holy Beasts. He was an ugly creature composed of rock: boulder-like shoulders and back with fifteen [I counted ^w^] sharp spikes on the very top of his head and one between his eyes. "How good of you to come." His eyes shone yellow and his posture reminded Miyuki of a turtle - slumped over but still standing on his hind legs, his arms nearly came to the ground; the rounded rock of his back was patterned like a tortoise shell. "_Shiseiju_: Genbu, the one with the greatest power, will now teach you a lesson!"

"This is one of the Four Holy Beasts?"


End file.
